COMMON APP ESSAY- CHOICE
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."
-Henry Ford
Self confidence. The point Henry Ford was trying to get across was that if you don't have the self confidence in you to achieve what ever you are attempting to achieve, you don't have it in you to achieve that goal. Looking back over the past few years of high school, I noticed that a lot of my decisions came down to having confidence. In the start of my high school career, I can remember that never in my dreams would I have imagined that I was going to be sitting on the threshold of adulthood; getting ready to head into the real world; to leave the nest.
The first time I heard this quote I was in my World History class. It was the first day of my freshman year and when I walked in, it was written on the board. My teacher read it aloud and asked us to decipher the meaning of it. I thought long and hard about answering, and I came up with nothing to tell him about this quote. It dumbfounded me.
During my sophomore year, I was once asked to write a paper on a personal choice quote that inspired me. For about two days I attempted to write a paper on this quote. After getting about a paragraph done, I took the paper and threw it in the waste basket. A quote that stuck with me for over a year, I would think that I was capable of writing a paper on it but somehow I was unable to do so. Instead, I wrote about a quote said by George Bernard Shaw.
It was not until a couple months ago that I finally understood what Henry Ford was trying to say in this quote. I was doing basically what I am doing now; trying to live through my final stages of high school- senior year, piece of cake, right? Wrong. While repeating over and over to myself how I was never going to be able to get all my college applications done, I was looking over work from my previous years. I passed a notebook from my junior year with this quote on it. I sat for some time staring at the words; trying to figure out what the underlying meaning of this quote was. And cliché, but true, it finally hit me.
In a way, writing this paper is my way of proving that with my self confidence, I can achieve what I once thought was impossible. Sophomore year, I attempted to write this paper. Now after realizing what it meant, I chose to write one of the most important essays of my life on it. I was never quite sure why this particular quote has stuck with me all these years and if you asked me now, I am not entirely positive that I would be able to answer you. Now, whenever I hear the word cannot, I think about how the opposite of this word is the root word, can. I think about the reasons as to why I think I cannot and then I think about why I know I can.
So now, on the threshold of college admissions and college essays and SAT's, it all comes down to self confidence. With self confidence pushing me forward through four unruly years of high school, I realized that I can do it. While working my way through my junior year, the "make it or break it" year, I had realized that college isn't intimidating as I thought it would be. Without it being specified, without it being one certain thing, I just know I can do it. Whatever I put my mind to, whatever I have the self confidence and reassurance to accomplish, I know it will happen.
Self confidence. Henry Ford has taught me a very valuable lesson which is to have self confidence. Whether this essay becomes the reason as to why I get into college or whether it becomes just another paper I wrote my senior year, I know that writing this essay has made me believe that all I have is my self confidence and all I need is just that.
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."
-Henry Ford
Self confidence. The point Henry Ford was trying to get across was that if you don't have the self confidence in you to achieve what ever you are attempting to achieve, you don't have it in you to achieve that goal. Looking back over the past few years of high school, I noticed that a lot of my decisions came down to having confidence. In the start of my high school career, I can remember that never in my dreams would I have imagined that I was going to be sitting on the threshold of adulthood; getting ready to head into the real world; to leave the nest.
The first time I heard this quote I was in my World History class. It was the first day of my freshman year and when I walked in, it was written on the board. My teacher read it aloud and asked us to decipher the meaning of it. I thought long and hard about answering, and I came up with nothing to tell him about this quote. It dumbfounded me.
During my sophomore year, I was once asked to write a paper on a personal choice quote that inspired me. For about two days I attempted to write a paper on this quote. After getting about a paragraph done, I took the paper and threw it in the waste basket. A quote that stuck with me for over a year, I would think that I was capable of writing a paper on it but somehow I was unable to do so. Instead, I wrote about a quote said by George Bernard Shaw.
It was not until a couple months ago that I finally understood what Henry Ford was trying to say in this quote. I was doing basically what I am doing now; trying to live through my final stages of high school- senior year, piece of cake, right? Wrong. While repeating over and over to myself how I was never going to be able to get all my college applications done, I was looking over work from my previous years. I passed a notebook from my junior year with this quote on it. I sat for some time staring at the words; trying to figure out what the underlying meaning of this quote was. And cliché, but true, it finally hit me.
In a way, writing this paper is my way of proving that with my self confidence, I can achieve what I once thought was impossible. Sophomore year, I attempted to write this paper. Now after realizing what it meant, I chose to write one of the most important essays of my life on it. I was never quite sure why this particular quote has stuck with me all these years and if you asked me now, I am not entirely positive that I would be able to answer you. Now, whenever I hear the word cannot, I think about how the opposite of this word is the root word, can. I think about the reasons as to why I think I cannot and then I think about why I know I can.
So now, on the threshold of college admissions and college essays and SAT's, it all comes down to self confidence. With self confidence pushing me forward through four unruly years of high school, I realized that I can do it. While working my way through my junior year, the "make it or break it" year, I had realized that college isn't intimidating as I thought it would be. Without it being specified, without it being one certain thing, I just know I can do it. Whatever I put my mind to, whatever I have the self confidence and reassurance to accomplish, I know it will happen.
Self confidence. Henry Ford has taught me a very valuable lesson which is to have self confidence. Whether this essay becomes the reason as to why I get into college or whether it becomes just another paper I wrote my senior year, I know that writing this essay has made me believe that all I have is my self confidence and all I need is just that.